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{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=William Greathed
|image=File:Felice Beato (British, born Italy - (Major-General Sir R. Napier, K.C.B., and Major Greatherd) - Google Art Project.jpg
|caption=
|birth_name=William Wilberforce Harris Greathed
|birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1826|12|21}}
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1878|12|29|1826|12|21}}
|birth_place=Paris, France
|death_place=Dorset, England
|placeofburial=[[Hampreston]], Dorset
|placeofburial_label=
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom
|branch=[[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|serviceyears=
|rank=[[Major-General (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|unit=
|commands=
|battles=[[Second Sikh War]]<br/>[[Indian Mutiny of 1857|Indian Mutiny]]
|awards=[[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
Major-General '''William Wilberforce Harris Greathed''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB}} (21 December 1826 – 29 December 1878) was a British senior officer in the [[Bengal Engineers]].<ref name="DNB">{{DNB|wstitle=Greathed, William Wilberforce Harris|first=Robert Hamilton|last=Vetch|authorlink=Robert Hamilton Vetch|volume=23|page=31}}</ref>

He was born in Paris, the youngest of five sons of Edward Greathed and Mary Elizabeth Glyn of Uddens House, Wimborne, Dorset. One of his brothers was General Sir [[Edward Harris Greathed]]. He entered the [[Addiscombe Military Seminary|Addiscombe military college]] of the [[East India Company]] in February 1843, and received a commission on 9 December 1844.<ref name="bio">{{cite book |title=Biographical Notices of Officers of the Royal (Bengal) Engineers |date=1900 |publisher=Smith, Elder, & Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalnot00thacgoog/page/n244 214]-217 |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalnot00thacgoog |quote=Major-General William Greathed. |accessdate=16 February 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1846, he went to India, and was attached to the [[Bengal Sappers and Miners]] at [[Meerut]]. The following year he was appointed to the irrigation department of the North-west Provinces, but on the outbreak of the [[Second Sikh War]] in 1848, he was sent to join the field force at the [[Siege of Multan]]. He was the first officer through the breach in the final assault. He was also present at the [[Battle of Gujrat]] on 21 February 1849.<ref name="bio"/>

After two years leave in England he was appointed executive engineer in the public works department at [[Barrackpore]] and in 1855 was sent to [[Allahabad]] as government consulting engineer in connection with the extension of the [[East India Railway]] to the upper provinces.<ref name="bio"/>

In 1857, when mutiny broke out in [[Meerut]] and Delhi was seized, he was summoned to [[Agra]] by [[John Russell Colvin|Lieutenant-Governor Colvin]] and ordered to carry despatches to the general at Meerut, which he succeeded in doing. Two months later he was asked to repeat the feat, reached Meerut and joined Sir Henry Barnard beyond the [[Jumna]] river, later taking a major part in the [[Battle of Badli-ki-Serai]] on 8 June 1857. In July he was severely wounded in a sortie from Delhi commanded by his brother Edward. After recovering from his wounds he joined a column as the field engineer under Colonel Seaton and took part in the engagements of Gungeree, Pattialee, and Mynpoory. He was then directing engineer of the attack on [[Lucknow]] under Colonel [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Robert Napier]] (afterwards first Lord Napier of Magdala). On the capture of Lucknow, he returned to his railway duties and was rewarded for his services in the mutiny by a brevet majority and the award of [[Companion of the Order of the Bath|CB]] in the [[1860 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22387 |pages=1915–1916 |date=18 May 1860 }}</ref>

In 1860 he accompanied Sir Robert Napier to China as an aide-de-camp and was present at the battle of Senho, at the capture of the [[Taku forts]] by the [[Hai River]], and in the campaign to capture [[Beijing|Peking]], after which he was sent home with despatches. On arrival in England, he was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel for his service in China and spent the next four years as assistant military secretary at the [[Royal Horse Guards|Horse Guards]].

In 1867 he was back in India as head of the irrigation department in the North-west Provinces. In 1872, when at home on leave, he read a paper before the Institute of Civil Engineers on ''The Irrigation Works of the North-West Provinces'', for which he received a [[Telford Medal]]. On his return to India, he completed his irrigation projects which included the Agra Canal from the Jumna and the Lower Ganges canal.

By 1875 he was ill and left India for good in July 1876. He was an invalid until he died on 29 December 1878, during which time he was promoted Major-general. After his death, he was buried at Hampreston, Wiltshire. He had married Alice Clive, daughter of Reverend Archer Clive and [[Caroline Clive|Caroline Meysey-Wigley]] and had 3 sons and 2 daughters.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greathed, William Wilberforce Harris}}
[[Category:1826 births]]
[[Category:1878 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Dorset]]
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:British civil engineers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Sikh War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857]]
[[Category:Indian Engineering Service officers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British Army major generals]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Paris]]

William Greathed - Revision history

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